Thief!
by royalrosie2000
Summary: When Gajeel goes on a mission to retrieve a gemstone, he is surprised to learn that Levy has a conflicting mission. The resulting prank-battle for the gemstone causes Gajeel to realize that Erza isn't the only scary one... (Disclaimer): I do not own Fairy Tail. Rated: T for swearing.
1. Chapter 1

** Hello!**

**This is my third Fanfic, and my first GajeelxLevy one! In fact, my first even slightly romantic one! i'm sorry if they're out of character, I tried my best but i'm new at writing stories where i have to figure out what the character would do, normally i have my own character who i can change anyway i want... not that i write much, it's more like fantasies in my head... but i really like writing! anyway, on with the story.**

**Summary: when Gajeel goes on a mission to retrieve a gemstone, he is surprised to learn that Levy has a conflicting mission. The resulting prank-battle for the gemstone causes Gajeel to realize that Erza isn't the only scary one... (Disclaimer): I do not own Fairy Tail.**

** Also: For timeline, this happens after Time skip but before the Grand Magic Games. (Mirajane has her magic back, just remember that!)**

**rating: T for swearing**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Gajeel walked through the dense forest calmly, for once he wasn't being bothered by idiot Flame-brain and his sidekick Stripper.

absentmindedly, he held the gem up to his face. it was beautiful, even he had to admit it. About the size of a apple, it looked shiny and white at first glance, but when put in the sunlight it shone all the colours of the rainbow.

it wasn't too much trouble to get it, all he had to do now is find whoever the hell wanted the gem.

_(flashback is italics)_

_he gazed at the request board, looking through them carefully. he sighed in annoyance as there were none there he was really interested in._

_Pantherlily walked over and crossed his arms. "Gajeel. Have you chosen a mission yet?"_

_"No. All of these missions here are so damn boring!" Gajeel's sudden outburst caught the attention of a certain barmaid._

_Mirajane suddenly popped up in front of Gajeel._

_"Hi there Gajeel!"_

_Gajeel jumped five feet in the air and glanced around, hoping no one saw that._

_"Gah! Mirajane! don't just come out of nowhere like that!"_

_Mirajane giggled._

_"sorry!"_

_Mirajane smiled innocently, and Gajeel felt like breaking a chair over her head for scaring him like that. But he knew better than to hurt the lovely barmaid Mirajane. Sometimes he wondered why people acted scared of her sometimes. Maybe it was because of her matchmaking and habit of popping up out of nowhere. How was he supposed to know, he hadn't really ever talked to her._

_Gajeel sighed as his heart rate finally slowed down._

_"I'm kind of busy right now, unless you have a good mission with you for me, go away."_

_"Okay!"_

_Gajeel completely expected her to __walk away right than. But she just stood there, ever smiling, like a doll or something._

_Gajeel gaped at her a bit, she was creeping him out._

_"uh... Mirajane, this is the part where you leave."_

_Mirajane's look completely changed and she gave him puppy-dog eyes. _

_"but I do have a mission for you!"_

_"well, why the hell didn't you say so?"_

_Mirajane's face once again shifted into pouty mode, her little cheeks inflating like a chipmunks._

_"that's 'cause you weren't being nice."_

_Gajeel clenched his fists and yelled a bit._

_"GAH! What does that have to do with missions?"_

_Mirajane's entire attitude shifted (once again), her smile fading slowly. it was just the smile, but Gajeel had never seen her not smiling. Gajeel couldn't help but shiver at the sudden cold waves emanating from the white-haired model._

_"You really should be nicer to people Gajeel. You never know how they might respond to you..."_

_Mirajane trailed off ominously._

_Gajeel blinked, and all of a sudden Mirajane was smiling her creepy little smile and he almost let out a sigh of relief._

_"So would you like the mission?"_

_"What is it?"_

_"__Here you go! This is the flyer. It was put up this morning, and I thought you might be interested so I took it for you."_

_"thanks."_

_He scanned the mission details. _

_"find a gemstone in Snapping Snakes Swamp, bring it to the Morning Glory Grove, **(****random names, it's not an actual forest or swamp from Fairy Tail)** you have to give the gem to my friend who is hiding in said woods, last of all you will not be meeting the client who prefers to remain anonymous. reward: four sacks of magic-made iron and-" _

_At this point Gajeel stopped reading and handed the mission sheet to Mirajane, who smiled even wider and wrote down the request in the request book._

_The mission was to his liking indeed, it may not have said anything about fighting but he knew well and good (or was it good and well? he could never remember) that Snapping Snakes Swamp was crawling with dangerous animals and lone, weak, dark mages. _

_The reward was ...perfect... he licked his lips, trying to remember and catch the taste of the magic iron the shrimp made for him that time on Tenrou island. It was delicious, unlike anything he'd ever had before.  
_

_Of course, he knew that none of the rewarded magic iron would be as good as shrimp's. After being freshly made, and having his magic energy depleted, that iron had tasted like a slice of heaven. But he would never admit it._

_Mirajane walked over and gave him a little thumbs-up. He wasn't entirely sure why neither of them were talking, but he was fine with it being like this. he nodded at her and she smiled even wider for like the fiftieth fucking time today._

* * *

That had been two days ago. Gajeel had taken a while to get the gemstone, finding the shitty thing was hard. But he found it, though it had taken him one full day.

Wandering this forest, he began to wonder who this 'friend' of the clients was. It seemed a little ridiculous to him, things were just a bit too convenient. Iron as a reward? Anonymous request that turned up so early in the morning Mirajane was the only person there? Even though she always walked with her siblings?

Suspicious.

He glanced again at the gem in his hand. However, it took him a minute to register what he saw there.

He wasn't holding anything.

Gajeel panicked.

"Damn it! Did I drop the stupid thing?"

He doubled back and looked where he had been walking beforehand.

There was nothing, not even a shard or a footprint.

Even more suspicious.

He swivelled back around, hearing a noise behind him, and suddenly finding himself face-to-face with the shrimp. (Levy)

"GAH!" (followed by a string of obscene curse words i would prefer not to write)

Levy smiled an awfully big smile for someone who was a second away from dying due to excessiveness of metal fists in her face.

"Hey Gajeel!"

Gajeel stomped his foot and made a fist.

"DAMNIT Shrimp! What the hell are you doing here?! And how the hell are you the same height as me?!"

Levy chuckled.

"I'm here to get something I want, as well as help finish up a mission. And if you just payed attention a little you would see that I haven't grown at all, I'm just hanging upside-down on a tree branch."

Gajeel took a step back and stared at the shrimp. the periwinkle-haired mage was wearing white short, a blue vest and a yellow bikini top. and she was, indeed, hanging upside down, yet her pulled back hair was coming undone and- oh... now her hair was suddenly covering her face.

Gajeel couldn't help but laugh.

"Gihihihihi!"

Levy did a spectacular pouty-chipmunk-Mirajane impression right than.

"Not funny Metalhead! Now help me down from here!"

Gajeel snickered once more.

"Why'd you decide to go up there if you can't get the hell down?!"

"Oh, shut your pinhole!"

"Oi, isn't that expression supposed to be pie-hole?"

Levy looked at him like he was the stupidest person in Earthland.

"Well, they say piehole because that's where the pie goes right?"

"uh.. i think..."

"well, I said pin-hole because that's where I like sticking pins!"

Gajeel could only stare at this little girl, who's face was getting close to tomato red with all the blood rushing to her head, her eyes bright and peaceful and her expression delighted.

"Anyway shrimp, you seen a gemstone around here?"

"Yes."

...

...

...

...

"Well are you going to fucking tell me where the hell it is or not?!"

"Hmm... i think... I'm not."

"DAMNIT YOU LITTLE PIPSQUEAK, WHERE THE FUCK IS THE STUPID GEM?!"

"Around."

"I HAVE A MISSION, I HAVE TO DELIVER THAT TO SOMEONE HERE YOU KNOW!"

"I actually do know that..."

"SERIOUSLY?!"

"I have a mission here too."

Gajeel's anger quickly turned to curiosity.

"Really?"

"Yep. I need the gemstone."

"You can't have it."

"That's what you think!"

Levy flipped herself out of the tree, stumbled a bit on landing, reached into her pocket, showed Gajeel her gleaming new possession, and stuck out her tongue before running off.

Gajeel was fuming.

"DAMN BRAT!"

* * *

**So... was it good?**

**I'd really appreciate a review, but please not a flame!**

**Please tell me whether I should continue with this story or not, though I'm probably going to go ahead with it no matter what... **

**Anyway, thanks for reading!**

**3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello People of Earth, thank you for reading my story! **

**Now, because I don't want to ramble on like in the first chapter, let chapter two commence!**

* * *

Gajeel swore heavily and rushed after Levy. The shrimp was fast! But... he was faster. The greenery he had been enjoying just a moment earlier flew by him, and he was starting to catch up with the little vixen.

"SHRIMP! GET BACK HERE RIGHT N-"

Gajeel skidded to a halt, the moist ground sinking beneath his feet. Levy had disappeared. He couldn't smell her, he couldn't see her, and he couldn't hear her.

This was, in fact, very shrimp-like, she was constantly confounding him with puzzles of all sorts, so he had an idea of what to do next. look for the hint. She always left a hint, whether it was because she was nice or she just wanted to see how long it would take him to figure it out, he didn't know.

So, he calmed himself down, though of course it's not like he was ever not calm in the first place... okay, maybe he was a bit out of sorts, but he was getting sidetracked again.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

There was the shrimp's scent, he had never really payed attention to it before... she smelt like aged parchment and ink. And just a hint of flowers and coconut, maybe that was her shampoo- what was he doing? Anyway, so it went too here, by that blackberry bush, than too here, by that old oak tree, than... and the trail went cold.

He looked up, nothing there but tree branches and a partially cloudy sky.

He looked to the left, nothing but a huge freshwater lake, seriously, how did he not notice that before?

He looked to the right, nothing but a large hill covered in various kinds of flowers, though shrimp could probably name them all.

He looked down, and there right at his feet was a small hole that was big enough for shrimp but definitely not for him. yet.

"Gihihi... bit more than a hint this time, eh shrimp?"

* * *

Levy hurried through the dark tunnels, knowing that it would be just minutes before Gajeel found her.

Good thing she had back-up...

* * *

Gajeel made quick work of the hole, and he swiftly picked up the shrimp's scent again.

Following it, he noticed that the tunnel had many paths leading to and from it.

Occasionally, a shaft of light streamed in from a hole above.

After a while of running after the shrimp, Gajeel growled in confusion.

He should have caught up to the shrimp by now! He's a hell of a lot faster then the shrimp with her tiny legs.

Sniffing the air carefully, he caught the scent of the shrimp again.

But it was stale, like it was days old.

The little shrimp had been running around here for days! No wonder he had been following the wrong scent...

Gajeel absentmindedly continued sniffing, when suddenly he stiffened.

There was a fresh, underlaying scent hidden amongst all that Levy-ness.

It smelled like... perfume, flowers, and a hint of alcohol?

He pondered this for a second. Who did he know that smelt like that? It wasn't one of the guys of the guild, that was for sure.

Couldn't be Bunny-girl, she didn't drink alcohol, and she always smelt like Natsu too.

Couldn't be Cana, she didn't wear perfume and her alcohol smell was overpowering.

Couldn't be Wendy, she smelt like fresh air and flowers.

Couldn't be Juvia, she smelt like the rain.

Couldn't be Titania, she smelt like steel.

Hey... could it be... Mirajane?

It fit, she naturally smelled like flowers, she served alcohol all the time, and girls were always wearing perfume, so why wouldn't she?

He snickered gently. Shrimp thought Mirajane the Bar-maid could keep him out?

Not likely.

He marched onwards, though stopping when he heard the faint click of high heels.

Shrimp didn't wear high heels.

Oh, it must be Mira.

Scoffing at the creepiness of the faint sound, he doubled-back, intending to meet the bar-maid and ask her what the hell was going on.

As he got closer to Mira, the uneasiness inside him grew. Something was wrong here... judging from the sound, Mira was extremely close to him, yet he couldn't see her anywhere.

He felt a tap on his back.

Whipping around with his arm already an iron pole, he stopped his attack when he saw Mirajane.

He breathed a quick sigh of relief.

He was no coward, but Mira could be scary when she wanted to be.

"Oi, Mirajane, what are you doing here?!"

Mira didn't smile.

Gajeel's eyes widened. What was with this tension in the air?

"Mira?"

Mirajane slowly raised her hands, placing them on his chest. Sensing danger, Gajeel stepped backwards.

The next thing he knew, he was above ground.

"EH?!" He shouted, both at Mira's actions, and at the fact he didn't know what just happened.

Looking around, he found himself exactly where he came into the tunnels.

He looked down for the hole, shocked when he found none.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!" He screamed to no one in particular.

* * *

Mirajane let out a sigh of relief, before cheerily smiling.

She wandered through the tunnels, knowing exactly where she was going, but to anyone else it would just look like she was lost.

Eventually she came to a doorway of sorts. Stepping through it, Mira found Levy sitting on the dirt floor with several maps spread out before her.

"Hello Levy! What are you doing?" Mirajane walked over to the bluenette.

"Planning."

"Oh! What for?"

"Gajeel."

"Ah. I thought we took care of him?"

"He'll be back, no doubt about it. But he'll probably be a bit more wary of the tunnels, and of you."

"So what are we doing?"

"Well, it's certainly best to be one step ahead of the enemy."

"It certainly is!"

"By the way, I can't thank you enough for helping me out here Mira-san!"

"Oh, don't mention it. I see this as a great opportunity!"

Levy stared at the barmaid, who was currently lost in fantasies about... who knows? Levy made a point of never trying to guess what Mirajane was thinking.

"You see, you are essential to a lot of my plans."

"I am?"

"Yep!"

"Well, if it all goes the way we want it too, this will be a lot of fun!"

Levy smiled with Mira and nodded.

"Lots and lots of fun..." Levy's smile slipped into a smirk, Mira's expression contorting into something evil.

* * *

Up above ground, Gajeel felt shivers crawl up his back.

* * *

Levy sighed, her face going back to normal.

Mira noticed, quickly going back into friendly-mode.

"Oh? Levy, what's wrong?"

"What- What if this doesn't work, Mira-san?"

Mira chuckled.

"Of course it'll work! Just you wait... and if it doesn't I'll just kick Gajeel's ass!"

Levy brightened at this.

"I'll join you in that!"

* * *

Gajeel looked around, wondering what the hell this eerie feeling was.

* * *

"So where's the gem?" Mirajane asked.

"Oh, it's in my secret holding cell. Don't want to make it TOO easy for Gajeel. Though I wonder if my secret holding cell is a bit too difficult..." Levy drifted off, contemplating.

"Nonsense! I think it'll be fine." Mirajane patted Levy's shoulder.

Levy looked up at the barmaid, smiling optimistically.

"Just remember, we can't let him get away with the gem! If he finds out that mission was completely fake, he'll be after both of us! Mainly you though! Good luck!" Levy gave a thumbs-up to Mira.

Mira sighed.

"You know I'm one for complex schemes, but isn't this a bit reliant on the way Gajeel will act? If he doesn't act the way we're expecting, than..." Mira paced, worried.

Levy was a bit miffed, she had never seen Mira get like this before.

"Oh well, right now I have to count on Gajeel getting back the gem. Let's just take this one step at a time." Mira nodded happily in response to Levy's statement.

* * *

Gajeel wandered the forest, searching for more holes.

How the HELL had MIRA pushed him out of there? Was it some kind of magic portal? Stupid Shrimp...

He had long since given up with her scent, instead just relying on dumb luck to get him where he needed to go.

Noticing night was beginning to fall, he grumbled unhappily and looked around for a sturdy-looking tree.

Finding one, he scowled as he pushed himself into it's strong branches, settling into a not-quite-comfortable-but-close-enough position.

Cursing the bluenette once more, he fell asleep swiftly, thinking about ways to get back that gem from the blasted barmaid and the stupid shrimp.

He was so deeply asleep, he didn't even notice someone call out his name. (_or so they thought)_

* * *

_Damnit! _Levy swore. She needed to move the gem, but if Gajeel didn't frickin' wake up, how could Mira take it unnoticed?

And earlier she was worried about it being too hard!

The doofus had chosen the tree with the gem hidden in it without even trying!

Staring up at his sleeping form, with his usual painted-on scowl gone, she couldn't help but blush a teensy bit.

.

.

.

_STUPID GAJEEL! WAKE UP ALREADY!_

Mira peered out from behind the tree.

"Levy, I don't think this is going to work. I'm tired, you're tired, how about we just go to bed? there's no guarantee he'll find it, and we already have plans to take it back. Leaving now would be good for us."

Levy slowly nodded, seeing the logic in her suggestion. Mira's experience in missions sure was helpful.

Taking out her magic pen, she stole one last glance at Gajeel before writing the word HOLE, throwing it at the ground.

Once she and Mira had hopped in, she turned around, writing the word FILL, and throwing it at the hole.

Levy found herself immersed in darkness once again.

* * *

Gajeel cracked an eye open.

They were gone.

Smirking triumphantly, he sat up.

He had heard the whole conversation.

He jumped down to the ground, surveying the whole tree.

Circling it, he noticed an oddly shaped crack in the trunk.

Smugly, he tore open the crack even more and couldn't help but laugh a bit when he spotted the gem, nestled safely in a bundle of leaves.

Maybe he had good luck after all.

* * *

**Sorry I took so long to update! I had minor writer's block for this, and it didn't help that every time I tried to write some more my computer would suddenly stop working when I tried to save.**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


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